Robin Williams’ star-making television debut on Happy Days, star Henry Winkler told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday, came on short notice and with a steep learning curve. “We rehearsed Monday from 10 o’clock in the morning...

The grandfather of a boy pictured holding a severed head in Syria said the shocking image brought him to tears, with the growing problem of jihadists fighting overseas to be a focus of U.S.-Australia talks Tuesday. The image of the Sydney-raised...

By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE Fla. (Reuters) – The Florida legislature approved new U.S. congressional districts on Monday a month after a judge found the state’s 2012 redistricting map was unconstitutional, and Democrats complained...

New York (AFP) – US police have found “no criminal behaviour” on racing driver Tony Stewart’s part but will continue their probe into the bizarre incident in which he struck and killed an up-and-coming driver. Stewart,...

By Jeff Mason CHILMARK Mass. (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday Iraq had taken “a promising step forward” in designating a new prime minister, vowing to step up support for a new Iraqi government in a...

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – The U.S. government need not turn over a secret surveillance court’s orders or the names of phone companies helping it collect call records, because it might reveal methods needed to protect national...

By Jason McLure FERGUSON, Mo. (Reuters) – The mother of a black teenager from suburban St. Louis who was shot to death by police over the weekend begged for non-violence on Monday in the wake of riots, as the FBI opened a probe into the...

Actor and comedian Robin Williams died on Monday at the age of 63, Entertainment Weekly reported. Williams’ body was found inside his home in Tiburon, California. Authorities in Marin County are investigating the cause of death....

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has come under criticism for secretly paying an Amtrak employee more than $850,000 for train passenger information the agency could have obtained legally, the Associated Press reported. Agency officials...

I have a lot to say about Jessica Valenti’s proposal that governments do more to make menstrual products affordable and the absolute shit ton of misogynist abuse she got for even daring to ask questions about it. But I thought I’d...

Ottawa (AFP) – Toronto police said Monday they are investigating an alleged email threat to bomb city hall if crack-smoking Mayor Rob Ford does not immediately resign. Constable David Hopkinson told AFP officers were at the scene...

Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Just hours after he bust out of a high-security prison as it was rocked by mortar blasts in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine, Natalya Nikitenko drove her son right back to jail. “He himself said that he had to...

A woman filmed herself exposing her breasts and touching herself in an Austrian parish, in June. She also was holding a bible and rosary, in case you were worried about her going to hell. A church-going-porn-fan was trying to enjoy some secular...

Chess legend Garry Kasparov failed in his attempt to dethrone the eccentric head of the World Chess Federation, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and self-professed “alien abductee”, in a chaotic and highly politicised vote...